Research Highlight #5:

Biological Linkers for Plasmonic Fluorescence Enhancement

We developed a method of attaching dyes at a fixed distance from metal surfaces
with double-stranded DNA. Using this method, we studied the fluorescence
enhancement of dyes attached to single silver nanoparticles. We have also
studied the resonant scattering properties of silver triangular prisms, which
are promising nanostructures for coupling with protein and peptide linkers for
both fluorescence and SERS applications. We have also worked with peptides as
inks in Dip-Pen Nanolithography and produced encouraging preliminary data. The
selection of heterobifunctional peptide inks could allow their use as biological
erectors for the template-directed assembly of functional nanostructures.